I've been home since August 15, and have adjusted to being home.  Since arriving home, I began working at Cottage Creamery here in Midland, which has been a blessing and given me some time to continue working on filling out job applications for more permanent positions.

I thought that I would share something that I wrote during my time at Spring Hill.

Here beside me

always with me

giving life, unending.

You've given me hope.

You love me unconditionally

even when life is confusing

and I can't hear or see you.

God you are

holy holy,

You are perfect.

God you are

Holy Holy.

You've never left my side.

You've shown me the way;

been there when I needed you.

You've spoken to me

and lead me to

where you need me.

You are lie changing.

God you are

holy holy.

You are perfect.

God you are

holy holy.

You are never ending,

life changing,

the one who never ends.

Final thoughts from camp

Here are some final thoughts from my time here at Spring Hill this summer.

I've been here for a little more than two months.  In those two months I've learned so much about myself and grown quite a bit.

Life goes on, even when you just want to push the pause button, and enjoy the same moment for the rest of your life forever. Life isn't always easy, so learning and growing in those hard moments is the only other option.

Living and working at camp is a great way to spend a summer.  If you ever need a summer job where you will learn, grown, work your butt off, and have tons of fun.

The final week is about to begin

The final week here at Spring Hill will begin tomorrow.  What happened to time?  Sometimes I feel like I've only been here for a few weeks.  Other times I feel like I've been here for years.

C'mon baby
I dont mean to rush you
I only wanted to reach out and touch you
I've gotta start to open my heart

I know you think
About jumping ship before it sinks
But were all in this together
Ask a scientist
It's quantum physics
We're all in this together
And on the subway
We feel like strangers
But were all in this together
Yeah I love you and you love her
And she loves him
But were all in this together

Y'know baby
There's never been protection
In all the history of human connection
C'mon darling
It's alright to show me
You don't ever need to be lonely
Once you start to open your heart

I saw you crying
I started crying
Cos were all in this together

And then religion
It's a big decision
But were all in this together

We're all in this together

Ben Lee's song titled "We're all in this together".

I'm at a point where I don't want to leave Spring Hill, but am ready at the same time.  I'd love to be able to have it be summer all year round, and just live and work here, but know that that isn't possible.  It's time to move on with life and get a real job.

There were so many things that we as a staff experienced together, lived through together.  I now have some awesome new friends that I don't want to loose contact with.  Most of all, I've grown a lot in my faith.  Since arriving here at Spring Hill, I've spent so much more time reading my Bible, and praying.  I also have some direction from God about where  he wants me to go in life.

Hopefully when I get back from camp I'll be able to share my experiences here with all of you.

Nearing the end

The summer is nearing it's end.  It's hard to believe that it's been just over two months since I first arrived at Spring Hill to begin working.  I'm not sure if I'm ready for camp to end, but know that finding a full time permanent gig needs to happen in the near future.

It took me under twenty four hours after returning from the family reunion to get back into the swing of things, although I do miss being able to sit still and enjoy the beautiful Chain O Lakes in Wauapca Wisconsin.

It's amazing how quickly time flies by when you're working hard and having fun.  I'm sure I'll look back on this summer with lots of fond memories of time spent with campers and staff.

Another week

Another week is over.  What's happened to time?  I feel like I've been here for years, yet like it's been less than the nearly two months that I've actually been here at camp.  One of the things that I've come to a better understanding of here at Spring Hill is that a single day here at camp is so much like a week because we fit so much into a day.

The girls I've been spending so much time with this past week have been great.  They act so much like sisters so much of the time.  It's been fun to spend so much time with all of them.

Earlier this week the area I am in had something come up that two of the female counselors needed some time to work through.  The third female counselor was on her day off that day.  So, I ended up with twenty teenage girls.  It was great to seem them come together to help me make sure that everyone was with me through lunch and discipleship.  There was a moment that I was a little overwhelmed by the 20 girls, but it didn't last to long.

In the past three weeks, I've discovered that I love leading small groups of teens.  It's always fun having those small group interactions with the girls, hear about where they are in their faith walk, and being able to help them to grow.  This past week several of the girls in the cabin I've been with asked about how to hear God, which is something that not all of the counselors here feel confident  in doing.  Hearing God speak to me was something that took me a long time to get used to doing.  Thankfully I've learned how to do this, and am much better at it than I used to be.

Quite often I hear God through images or single words.  Often times the words are things that will make sense a year or two down the road, and the images are things that make sense in the next six months or so.  This past Tuesday, I had the image of Round Lake pop into my head, and I knew it was God speaking--I didn't know what it was about Round Lake that God wanted me to know, but knew that something was going to come up relating to family, family reunion, or something in Waupaca.  By the end of the week I knew that I was going to be headed to Waupaca for the family reunion on the 29th (exactly one week after the image of Round Lake popped into my head.

If there's one thing that has blown me away it's the way that God works in our lives, and how he sends us to specific places to learn more of his plan for us.

I have a feeling that I'll be asked a lot of questions about the past two summers and this summer at the family reunion.  Any of you Grist's reading this---feel free to ask lots of questions while I'm at the reunion about camp!

Another week done, another to begin

Week 1.6 is over.  For me this meant that the group of twelve girls I had been hanging out with for the past two weeks is gone, and more campers will be arriving tomorrow.

These past two weeks have been so amazing.  I've had a few one on one conversations with campers that made my day and challenged me.  Each of those twelve girls made me smile every time I turned up after having been on my break or having returned to hang out with them after having been in the Copper Country kitchen.

Since this was one of two long weeks, campers left today instead of on Friday, and a new batch of campers arrive tomorrow morning.  Of course that means that we don't get much time off this weekend.  But at least we get these next few hours off to relax and get ourselves pumped up for another week of campers.

Next weekend will be family weekend, which means that I'll actually see my parents for the first time in over a month.  I'm sure that day and a half off next weekend is going to be exactly what I need at this point in the summer.

I can't wait to see what the next two weeks bring!

At camp...

Here are some campisms for you from here at Spring Hill.

--At camp you wear everything until it smells like campfire or you've worn it twice.

--At camp showering for campers is something you encourage.  But it you as a part of the staff don't shower more than once or twice a week, it's not a big deal.

--At camp, swimming in the pool could be considered as a shower.

--Taking half an hour to an hour in the shower at camp is no big deal, especially when you're on break.

--Shaving your legs once every two to three weeks is no big deal.  But having freshly shaved legs feels amazing.

--At camp you might not want to do all  your laundry but just a couple of shirts and a pair of shorts to last you a few days, so you may find yourself washing those four items in the sink.

--Sleep becomes a precious commodity.  Get it when you can.

--You get excited for real food (AKA the home cooked stuff).

--You don't always get along with the people you live and work with.  But they do become some of your best friends who have been with you through some of the funniest and goofiest moments of your life, and also have been there when you've struggled through the hard times.  These are the people who understand and love you for being you.

--At camp, you rarely know what's going on in the "real" world.  Camp is our "real" world, so any drama and all the good and bad that happens at camp is our version of world news.

Yesterday

Yesterday was one of those days...

Yesterday was one of those days when I didn't have all the words that I wish I had.

I had a one on one conversation with a camper, that was rough.  I won't go into it so that she can keep her privacy in the difficult situation.

Yesterday was one of those days when I made a mistake that made me laugh.

I also accidentally mistook corn break for cupcakes and frosted a pan of them.  They looked like cupcakes.  Maybe I should have eaten one first just to check.  At least I could laugh at myself.

Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like even the smallest things would be what a camper would remember.

During Avenue (The teen's worship) I ended up giving a teen a big hug, and holding on for a while as she cried on my shoulder.  I'm sure she appreciated the shoulder to lean on.

Yesterday was one of those days...

Week 1.3

Sunday (June 22) marked the start of week 1.3 here at camp.This week I was assigned to a two week group of TST (Teen Service Team) girls.  They will be here until July 4th, when they head home.

The time I have spent with them has always been an adventure.  I haven't really been able to figure out what to expect from these girls, but was able to spend all day today with them, which was AWESOME!  Before I get into today, I'll cover everything between Sunday and today.

On Sunday night, the CoCo K staff was up there until after 10 thanks to dishes.  Of the five of us doing dishes, three of us had fun singing Disney songs and laughing rather hard.  It defiantly made the dishes go by faster.

Monday through Thursday were normal days for me, and I defiantly enjoyed higher ground on Monday night.  Thursday evening was a bit rough.  I was a bit tired, wanted to curl up in a ball and sleep, and was a bit frustrated, but when I got a letter from Leesy (a very good friend of mine), and had the chance to read it, I felt at least a little better.

Friday I ended up working from 3:30 until 10 in the New Fro kitchen, which I hadn't found out about until under 24 hours before hand.  Sometimes life happens and you have to go with the flow and be flexible.  I did my best, but was a little frustrated by the lack of a heads up that I would be needed in New Fro for the afternoon/evening shift on Friday.  It was during my shift in New Fro on Friday that I ended up doing front of house stuff, which I haven't done much of, so I was learning as I went.  There were times that I wanted to do a face palm (you know, that thing where you hit your face with your hand as if to say "What are you thinking?"), but didn't.

Today was a particularly good day since I didn't have to be in the kitchen and actually got to spend the whole day with campers!  I still got up at 7 for breakfast.  Since the cabin I'm paired with through the fourth didn't get to breakfast until a bit later, I was able to get some solo time in, which I really needed.  The rest of the morning was spent hanging out with the campers, and doing a prayer walk.  After lunch, we hopped on the buses and drove to Rose Lake, where we went tubing (it was my first time on a tube in several years), and hung out on the beach.  After eating dinner at the beach, and coming back to camp, we had some down time in the cabin that the campers I get to spend time with each day are in.  It was fun to get to interact with them there, and get to know them a bit better during that time.  After that, we had movie night, and watched the Lego Movie.

I'm looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight.  Hopefully I'll remember to write another post next Saturday about how this groups second week goes.

Week 1.2 conclusion

Today concluded week 1.2.  Last week there was a group from Indiana here that was technically week 1 for the activity staff.  But for the rest of us this was week 1.  Therefore the term week 1.2 came into existence.

I got to spend my afternoons/evenings (from 3:30pm to somewhere between 8 and 9 pm) in CoCo (Copper Country's) kitchen cooking and making tons of cookies for campers to enjoy.  Don't ask me to make cookies for at least a month after I get home because I won't want to make any.  I also spent some time with a cabin of nine girls that were amazing.  These girls defiantly had some good questions and got me thinking about the way I think about and understand things.  I also got the chance to go for a horseback ride.  It was the first time I had ever been on a horse, and so as I climbed on, I was a bit nervous about how I would do.  I ended up doing just fine and had a lot of fun.  Just getting on a horse got me out of my comfort zone, and so getting on a horse then going on a trail ride was something completely out of my comfort zone.  Yet, I had promised myself that I would go on at least one trail ride this summer.  So it was good that I was able to get out of my comfort so early in camp.

This morning, the cabin I helped with, their brother cabin, and I sat in the chapel for a while with paper plates and pens.  Each of us wrote our name on a paper plate, then we passed the plates around and each person wrote on each plate.  It is great to read what the campers and other staff I worked closely with this week wrote to me.

One of the campers wrote something on my plate that got me.  The camper wrote:

Erin,
Even though I don't  know you that much I know you are truly a smart person with much wisdom.  Your input at the campfires really affected me.
-camper name

I now know what my schedule will be for the next two weeks.  I will be up in CoCo kitchen Sunday through Thursday in the afternoons/evenings and have Friday and Saturday off, which is great.

Severe Weather and a youth director

There are two things I wanted to cover in this post.

Right now (9am) we've got a severe weather warning here at camp.  So there is a group of the staff (including me) who are sitting in the New Fro staff lounge (also known as the crack house).  I'm glad to know that everyone is doing the same thing as me at the moment.  If there weren't other people  here, I'd be running through the rain to the dinning hall.

The other thing that I wanted to mention is about a former youth director at Trinity Lutheran (Hillary) who died in the fall after an accident in Florida.  It wasn't long after I arrived at Spring Hill that I met another Hillary.  There are moments when I see Hilary here and think I'm seeing youth director Hillary.

Kitchen update number 1

Well, it's been a long 24/48 hours.

On Saturday cabins got cleaned, and everybody moved cabins.  Those of us who are support/activity staff moved into our more permanent housing for the summer.  Counselors moved into the cabin that they will be in for the next one to two weeks.  Most counselors will move every week.  But those who are counselors for the TST program will either have campers here for one or two weeks, so will move after their group of campers have left.

On Saturday, the first group of one week TSTers arrived, and I got to hang out with them for the evening.  These kids are defiantly sweet.  I connected with one of the campers during dinner on Saturday night, which was great.

Yesterday I pulled a marathon 8 hour kitchen session in Copper Country's (CoCo's) kitchen making 800 cookies and at least 100 bread sticks.  Yes, I did get a break to eat, which felt great.  At the end of that, my feet were screaming at me to sit down, but I still had to walk back down CoCo mountain to get to the cabin I'll be in the rest of the summer.  I'm pretty sure the combination of not wanting to eat the cookies I'm making out of having spent to much time handling them, and walking up and down CoCo mountain will kick my but into shape.

In other news, if you have sent me mail, I will be checking again later today to see if it is in the New Frontiers area, or if it is in CoCo  area.

Hopefully everyone's summer is going well, and you are enjoying some beautiful weather!

Kitchen

Up until today, I had no idea which kitchen I would be in here at Spring Hill.  Today I found out where I'll be spending next week.  I'll be in the CoCo kitchen the whole week (unless something changes), and will be working the afternoons/evenings Sunday through Thursday (3pm to close), and the morning shift (6am to 1pm).

Here at Spring Hill there are three different camp areas, Copper Country, Story Brook, and New Frontiers.  Story Brook is for grades 1-3, Copper Country is for grades 4-6, New Frontiers is for grades 6-9.  We call Copper Country CoCo, Story Brook StoBro, and New Frontiers NewFro.

"What were we talking about? Deer p*!s."

There's a group of us here at camp that get along well.  Around the table at meals, we get have so much fun.  We regularly talk about a lot of random things that we share in common, like Disney trivia.  Tonight during dinner, we talked about what our first decree would be if we were to be president.  We've also talked a lot about accents, and have even shared bits and pieces of our stories.

Today in the kitchen, I cut oranges, fill napkin holders, and wash 800 potatoes.  The morning went well.  But in the afternoon I stood at a sink and scrubbed potatoes.  It was fun, but I sure am tired.  I'm sure that I will get used to it.

I will have more to post later on.

Photos

The auditorium  between sessions of training.

Post training one evening

Sunday afternoon ultimate tournament.

The auditorium

If you've ever been to Michigan Adventures you may have been down this slide...but now it's here at Spring Hill in CoCo (Copper Country).

The blobs!

First days at Spring Hill

The first days here at Spring Hill have been filled with a lot of stuff.  So here's what I've been up to:

After arriving on Thursday, I checked in and moved into the cabin I'll be in for training.  We also did a talking and walking tour of camp.  That was great since I managed to get slightly lost walking from where I checked in to the cabin I'm in.  I wasn't too lost.  I just went in the correct general direction, but took the wrong path towards the wrong set of cabins.  I'm glad that the people that I work with here at Spring Hill are awesome and helped me to figure out where I was going.  We also had campfires with our training cabins and with another training cabin where we started sharing our stories.

Friday:
Morning meeting--most mornings during training we get together before breakfast with our training cabin to do a half an hour Bible study/discussion.  My cabin is doing Luke.
Breakfast
Basic recap from the walk and talk tour of camp.
Spring Hill History
lunch
Bullying intervention--I never thought I would know this much about how to stop bullying.
Emergency Plan--this isn't to much different from what it was at Wisconsin Badger Camp, so I didn't have to much new information from this session to process.
Dinner
Worship
Bed

Saturday:
Morning meeting
breakfast
Child protection  plan--basically covering reporting laws since we are all mandatory reporters.  Thanks to working in the nursery at church, I was already a mandatory reporter, so the review was nothing new, but good to have.
lunch
Gospel Essentials--I'm sure there will be some point this summer when I'll have a conversation with one of the kids, and will use some of what we talked abut during this session.
Process of check in/check out with other activity staff
Dinner
Crud wars--the staff got together to smear mud on each other, get sprayed by a fire truck, throw flour, throw wet horse feed, throw water balloons, and throw shaving cream at each other.  It was great to get all messy.  After it was all over everyone got sprayed down with fire hoses, and headed back to their cabins to take strip and take showers.  The cabin I am in wore our swimming suits under our junk cloths so that when we got back to our cabin, we could strip on the deck, go in and shower in our swimming suits to get rid of all the junk left on us.

Today I know we have worship, an ultimate and basketball tournament.

I should post in another few days to cover everything we covered since then in training.

Early Camp Experience

As a kid I didn't go to camp every summer.  I went to Stony Lake for confirmation camp in 2001 and 2002, and enjoyed both summers.  I remember a variety of things about both summers.  I thought that today I would share some of those memories.

Back in 2001, I can still remember not really knowing the girls I was in a cabin with, and feeling like I didn't quite fit in with that group of campers.  Yet, I managed to find other campers that were my age and that I got along well with.  I can also remember that during that week in 2001, I began to realize that despite having been questioning my faith for a few years, that there was a God out there.  It was during the week I spent at Stony Lake in 2002 that really had an impact on me.

In the days leading up to me leaving for Stony Lake in 2002, I had a dream that was rather confusing me at the time.  The dream was about myself and my fellow campers running around camp trying to meet and talk to all of the counselors.  It was at the end of the dream that I reached the final counselor I needed to meet.

Within a couple of days I was on my way to camp.  Having reached Stony Lake, I met the counselor that I would be spending my week with along with several other campers.  The moment that I met my counselor, I had one of those moments when my jaw dropped and I had no clue what I should say.  It was during the first moment that I saw my counselor that I realized that she was the same person that I had walked  up to at the end of my dream just days before.

Throughout that week, I learned a lot about myself.  I was lucky to be in a cabin with a group of girls that I got along well with.  I also was lucky to have the counselor that I had.  The counselor I had was one of those people who had an impact on my life.  Throughout that week, the counselor I had shared her faith with us, and also showed me that it is okay to be an introvert.  It was at the end of that week that I remember thinking "I need to work at a summer camp when I get older.".

I have been lucky.  I've been able to work at a summer camp since those two summers.  This summer I will be working at Spring Hill here in Michigan.  I'm looking forward to it in so many ways.  I know what to expect out of working at a summer camp.  I also know that I am going to enjoy every moment of the summer.  I am also looking forward to working at Spring Hill for another reason.  In a way, I am returning to a situation that led me to working at summer camps.  I just hope that I can have a positive impact on the kids I will be working with this week, help them grow in their faith, and help them find their path in life.

Updates

It sure has been a while since I posted here.  But for several weeks now I have had one piece of good news that brings me back here today.

I am going to be working at camp again this summer.  Not Wisconsin Badger Camp, but Spring Hill.  I am looking forward to spending this summer as part of the kitchen staff at Spring Hill here in Michigan.  Although I will miss the time I have spent at Wisconsin Badger Camp the past two summers, I am sure that this experience will also be one that I will never forget.

I am hoping that I'll be able to post here regularly throughout the summer to keep you all updated on the happenings at camp, and how I am doing.  As the summer gets closer, I'll be sure to let you all know if I will be posting regularly or not.